MILAN FASHION WEEK MENSWEAR FALL/WINTER 2026: DAY 2

SETCHU
review by MAREK BARTEK

images via vogue.com

“I know Greenland is very in the news now, but I went there before this current trendy boom began.” With that, Satoshi Kuwata introduced Setchu’s Fall/Winter show in Milan. The collection drew from a recent fishing trip to Greenland, where harsh surroundings inform a focus on function, protection, and resourcefulness.

Visiting the Greenland National Museum in Nuuk, Kuwata was confronted with a different approach to design, where traditional Inuit garments are shaped by environment and need for survival. This key element was translated into Setchu’s design language through modular construction and multi-use pieces. Several looks could be folded, zipped, or reconfigured into bags, reinforcing Kuwata’s ongoing interest in adaptability and compact design.

Materials played an important role. Wool and silk jacquards were developed to resemble protective outer skins, while dense weaves and padded surfaces suggested insulation and durability. The silhouettes balanced softness and structure, combining Japanese pattern-cutting with British tailoring discipline. It was innovative, playful and meticulously executed — yet another solidification of why is Setchu one of the most exciting brands to look at.

DOLCE & GABBANA
review by NIA TOPALOVA

images courtesy of DOLCE & GABBANA

Tighten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen (especially gentleman): Dolce & Gabbana present The Portrait of Man. 

This season is a deliberate return and true manifesto of individuality, an individuality so powerful that it finally returns its place as a central, essential element of menswear, bidding farewell to the homogenization and uniformity, and reclaiming personal style as the ultimate act of expression. 

Tailoring, as always, was at its finest and most assured, with shoulders, proportions and structure defining the character of each silhouette. Fabrics and textures did the rest. Deep velvets absorbed the light which further sculpted the silhouettes, evoking the emotional depth of Italian chiaroscuro; wool suits, double-breasted coats, and faux-fur trenchcoats gave weight, while matte silks added softness. Fitted leather jackets in combination of jeans or leather trousers added the much needed, anticipated bite.

While many have criticised the Italian designers’ lack of diversity in casting, raising the question of whether the very notion of “individuality” failed to be delivered due to its own contradictions, it is worth asking whether Dolce & Gabbana’s creative intention was overlooked, and whether homogeneity in casting was in fact deliberate, emphasising a single recurring face and the many identities articulated through the clothing. 

What became increasingly clear was that although no two men carried the same essence in style, there was the undeniable Dolce & Gabbana je ne sais quoi in the way each of them occupied space. Once again, the designer duo accomplished something crucial: they remained deliberately removed from trend, allowing space for timeless elegance to assert itself over time.

Finally, we were summoned to think wisely, and choose our ultimate fighter of elegance: will it be the introspective thinker, the structured rationalist, or the visionary? Or perhaps you’d find more appealing the Mediterranean sensualist, or the restless romantic… I would, that much is certain, but that’s a story for another time. 

PRONOUNCE
review by MAREK BARTEK

images via vogue.com

PAUL SMITH
review by NIA TOPALOVA

images courtesy of PAUL SMITH

This season was shaped by memory, a careful excavation into fifty-five years of creation and five thousand garments, bringing back the spirit of the 1980s and 1990s - a period dear to Paul Smith. He takes us back even further, to 1977, the year of his first show, which opened in a friend’s apartment on Boulevard de Vaugirard, where guests had to ring the doorbell to get in. Years later, Smith still prefers a compact, intimate space to showcase his collections, rather than huge formats lacking personality.

With Sam Cotton as head of the men’s design, Smith gave way to “ fresh young eyes” introducing a modern perspective into the house’s DNA, honouring all the hard work done throughout the years. The result was a collection where each piece brought a reference that served purpose and meaning.

A recurring motif was what the house called “Magpie dressing” - assembling objects, garments, fragments from antique markets or even found in your mom’s drawers, letting the clothes carry personality and memory. Classic tailoring and archival cuts were loosened, layered, and rendered in a more relaxed proportion. Sweaters and blazers carried embroidery; patterns throughout the collection drew on the villas of the South of France and the idiosyncratic imagery the brand has long favoured. 

Looking back and forward at once, the collection turns over the House’s history while opening a space for what comes next. Archive pieces and new designs coexist, signaling a significant shift in approach without erasing the past.